What is the Israel Dream Itinerary?

A good old friend of mine is finally making her first trip to Israel next week. She’ll be here for 2-3 weeks, and I am excited to be showing her around a lot, and helping her plan her time here. Someone else (a friend of a friend) contacted me to suggest places for her to visit when she comes here in the Fall. And many other times people ask me similar questions when they hear I am studying to become a tour guide.

Itinerary planning is a job and skill in itself. And it is a major task in the tour guiding profession. But it is not yet something which I have studied or have a lot of experience with. And yet, I am going to have to get started on it now to help Lara have an awesome fun time here! So while I’ve started to think about it, I’d love to hear from you guys as well.

The two people who have asked me for this help recently (my friend Lara and the other friend of a friend) have some different needs and others that overlap each other. For starters, Lara is Jewish and the other woman is not. To my knowledge, neither is particularly religious, but I suspect that there will be more emphasis (though not to the point of exclusion) on Christian sites for the friend’s friend, and more on Jewish sites for Lara. Additionally, while both are on somewhat limited budgets, they seem to me to be in slightly different ranges of the lower end. Finally, with Lara, I will be spending a larger portion of the time, whereas with the other person it is more advice, or perhaps a single day that I will be with her.

Itineraries in Israel need to incorporate such a huge variety of sites/purposes. There are historical sites from well over 3000 years (thus both ancient and modern history) and numerous cultures. There are religious sites of many varieties. There are museums of all stripes and activities of many kinds, from hiking, to beaches, to historical reenactments, to archaeological digs, etc. There are also cultural and experiential activities: culinary sites, music events, festivals of all kinds and just good bars, restaurants and nightlife.

What do you think is a must-see for a first-time visit to Israel? Both for a Jewish traveler and a Christian one? A few of the must-sees I have are obvious: Western Wall, Masada, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Tel Aviv-Yaffo, Kinneret, Dead Sea, Ein Gedi, etc. But what else?

Comments

The biggest qualifier is it just depends on how much time they have of course. I’m not going to say much that isn’t standard, it’s just a way to get them all in one place. Time permitting, I’d say:

Jerusalem: the shuk, Yad Vashem (even if we’re tired of it, for a first-timer, it’s pretty powerful), Har Herzl and the musuem isn’t usually done by tourists but I think it’s helpful to appreciate the country’s history

Tel Aviv: Nachalat Binyamin, Dizengoff and Rothschild to take in the city, more important than any real sites there to capture the feeling of the city…maybe Kikar Rabin

A lot of history buffs like Acco; personally I’d skip it but that’s just me.

I’m down on Eilat, not critical. Sde Boker to get the Ben-Gurion part? Or a hike in the machtesh? Ein Gedi is very cool but I don’t think it’s a must must must if time is limited.

People love Tsfat.

A visit to Better Place to show off modern Israel? Not considered a must by traditional tours but maybe this will change…

Around the Kinneret, I am personally a big fan of the Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes. Not for the religious aspects, but because of the mosaics which represent 4th Century around the alter and then 8th(?) century around the rest of the floor. You can see the advance of the art form and evidence of population that far back. Plus, it’s just a nice, calm location.

I’m a big fan of mosaics, so I would also recommend Tzippori – the Mona Lisa of the North. In terms of art, this is absolutely incredible. In terms of location, you can see the remnants of the ancient town.

For a weird experience, there is a Kangaroo petting zoo in the North, but I can’t remember what it’s called.

And depending on the temperature, Yavne is a good place to spend a relaxing day.

Also, I think the usual sites are done and done and overdone. Sometimes, it’s better to see a site that is off the beaten path to get a better feeling for the country, not just its tourist sites (and its crowds of tourists).

Galil
Tiberias / Ein gev ( many relevant Christian sites around the lake and ‘Jesus’ boat at Nof Ginossar)
Zfat – tour of old city and artist’s quarter ( Friday night in the old city is great if you can work it in)

Israeli History Primer

With thousands of years of history, and tens of historical eras and ruling cultures, a trip to Israel can be confusing for those not versed in the history. It helps a lot to have a general overview before you visit. Even if you don't remember any of it, at least the terms will be vaguely familiar. I wrote a primer for just that purpose.

What is…?

In addition to the different cultures you'll encounter, there are also many unfamiliar terms you may come across in a trip to Israel. I've written a series of blog posts filling in some details about those unique things. These are about the terms that you might hear a lot here, but might never hear anywhere else.